Color encoding in Tableau - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

Sales data by product category

Cell	Value
A1	Category
B1	Sales
A2	Furniture
B2	5000
A3	Office Supplies
B3	3000
A4	Technology
B4	7000

Formula Trace

IF [Sales] > 6000 THEN 'Green' ELSEIF [Sales] > 4000 THEN 'Yellow' ELSE 'Red' END

Step 1: Evaluate [Sales] for Furniture: 5000

Step 2: Check if 5000 > 6000

Step 3: Check if 5000 > 4000

Step 4: Assign color 'Yellow' for Furniture

Step 5: Evaluate [Sales] for Office Supplies: 3000

Step 6: Check if 3000 > 6000

Step 7: Check if 3000 > 4000

Step 8: Assign color 'Red' for Office Supplies

Step 9: Evaluate [Sales] for Technology: 7000

Step 10: Check if 7000 > 6000

Step 11: Assign color 'Green' for Technology

Cell Reference Map

    A           B
1 |Category   | Sales  |
2 |Furniture  | 5000   | <-- Sales value used
3 |Office Supplies | 3000 | <-- Sales value used
4 |Technology | 7000   | <-- Sales value used

Arrows point from Sales cells (B2, B3, B4) to color assignment logic.

The formula uses the Sales values in column B (cells B2, B3, B4) to decide color encoding.

Result

    A              B        C
1 |Category      | Sales  | Color  |
2 |Furniture     | 5000   | Yellow |
3 |Office Supplies| 3000  | Red    |
4 |Technology    | 7000   | Green  |

The Color column shows the color assigned based on Sales value thresholds: Green for >6000, Yellow for >4000, Red otherwise.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What color is assigned to Furniture with sales of 5000?

A Red

B Green

C Yellow

D Blue

Key Result

Color encoding uses IF-ELSEIF-ELSE to assign colors based on numeric thresholds.